The Autobiographical Elements in the Works of Edgar Allan Poe
The Autobiographical Elements in the Works of Edgar Allan Poe
"There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportions" (Biography on Poe 8). Edgar Alan Poe endured a very difficult life and this is evident in his literary style. He was once titled the "master of the macabre." One of the aspects in his life with which he struggled was social isolation. He used this as a topic in a number of poems and short stories.
Poe's life was also filled with periods of fear and irrationality. He had a very sensitive side when it came to the female gender, any woman he was ever close to died at an early age. Another of his major battles, actually the only one he really lost, was his struggle with alcoholism. Of all these topics,
Poe's favorites were the death of a beautiful woman, a feeling which he knew all too well, and the general topic of death. During Poe's life, he experienced extreme social isolation. These feelings of separation began when his father died or disappeared around the time of the birth of Poe's sister, Rosalie. The family then moved and he was separated from his older brother, who was left with relatives in Baltimore.
During those toddler years, Poe found his mother in the last stages of tuberculosis. Upon her death, he was then separated from his younger sister,
Rosalie. Another major low point in his life was the death of his foster mother,
Mrs. Frances Allan, and his foster father disowning him, all at one time. The most significant set-back to Edgar Allan Poe was the death of his cousin/wife
Virginia Clemm. This single incident was the cause of almost all of his feelings of isolation in his in his adulthood. He felt as though anyone he became close to would die. Poe wrote about isolation in many of his most popular works. "A Dream
Within a Dream" was not one of his more popular poems, but it discussed the difficult process of having to say good-bye to a loved one. He also wrote, "The
Raven," in which the
"There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportions" (Biography on Poe 8). Edgar Alan Poe endured a very difficult life and this is evident in his literary style. He was once titled the "master of the macabre." One of the aspects in his life with which he struggled was social isolation. He used this as a topic in a number of poems and short stories.
Poe's life was also filled with periods of fear and irrationality. He had a very sensitive side when it came to the female gender, any woman he was ever close to died at an early age. Another of his major battles, actually the only one he really lost, was his struggle with alcoholism. Of all these topics,
Poe's favorites were the death of a beautiful woman, a feeling which he knew all too well, and the general topic of death. During Poe's life, he experienced extreme social isolation. These feelings of separation began when his father died or disappeared around the time of the birth of Poe's sister, Rosalie. The family then moved and he was separated from his older brother, who was left with relatives in Baltimore.
During those toddler years, Poe found his mother in the last stages of tuberculosis. Upon her death, he was then separated from his younger sister,
Rosalie. Another major low point in his life was the death of his foster mother,
Mrs. Frances Allan, and his foster father disowning him, all at one time. The most significant set-back to Edgar Allan Poe was the death of his cousin/wife
Virginia Clemm. This single incident was the cause of almost all of his feelings of isolation in his in his adulthood. He felt as though anyone he became close to would die. Poe wrote about isolation in many of his most popular works. "A Dream
Within a Dream" was not one of his more popular poems, but it discussed the difficult process of having to say good-bye to a loved one. He also wrote, "The
Raven," in which the